APSU's online enrollment surges

With urging and support by Austin Peay State University President Sherry Hoppe and
hard work by many faculty members, APSU has gone from offering no online classes when
Hoppe arrived in 2000 to leading the state in online enrollment.

Dr. Stan Groppel, dean of Extended and Distance Education, recently reported 5, 042
online enrollments for Spring 2007 compared with 3,966 last springa 27 percent increase,
while online headcount is 2,936a 24 percent increase over last springs 2,350.
With urging and support by Austin Peay State University President Sherry Hoppe and
hard work by many faculty members, APSU has gone from offering no online classes when
Hoppe arrived in 2000 to leading the state in online enrollment.

Hoppe said, “Given the rapid rise in the popularity of online education over the
past few years and the tremendously aggressive competition for online students, Austin
Peay would have struggled to maintain its enrollment had it not been for a few faculty
pioneers who, back in 2000, were willing to accept my challenge to learn to teach
online.

“I commend them, and I congratulate and thank Dr. Stan Groppel for his leadership
in moving our online offerings forward with kind but firm persistence.”

Online enrollment is included in APSU's overall enrollment, which increased more than
6 percent in head count and almost 4 percent in full-time equivalency (FTE) this spring.
-- Dennie B. Burke